Austria’s spas are famous for their relaxing and therapeutic properties. About 45 minutes southwest of Vienna, a new spa—Linsberg Asia—opened last year and I’ve been wanting to see an Austrian interpretation of an Asian theme. We had a couple of friends visiting this week and while he went to a conference, she and I went to the spa.
She had not brought a bathing suit to Austria but the spa shop had several for sale and while my friend was trying on suits, I took a couple of photos of the entry area. I liked the suspended bamboo:
And thought the intricately carved panels from the Orient fit Vienna beautifully:
She bought a swim suit, we changed and when we entered the spa area we saw an elevator and next to it a beautifully-designed corridor with black slate stepping stones on white gravel and a circle of gilded columns. We decided to continue walking through the corridor, since it was so appealing and seemed to be the right way to go. As we walked outside, I noticed a topless woman (“That’s Europe,” I thought to myself.) Then I noticed she wasn’t just topless, she was naked. As we walked around, everyone looked topless...no...naked...stark naked...everyone... everywhere we looked. My brain started digging—no, there was no mention of this on the internet (and their website is in English).
I was embarrassed that my friend might be embarrassed or think I brought her here intentionally without telling her. We started feeling very uncomfortable at first for the bare skin in front of us and then because our bathing suits seemed so out of place in the middle of 200 birthday suits.
“I could have saved the 30 Euros I spent on this bikini,” she joked. We fell into two lounge chairs laughing so hard, the tears were rolling down our cheeks. Then we realized we shouldn’t laugh because someone might think we are making fun of them. Stifling the laughter became unbearable then impossible.
Thoughts: Why didn’t they tell us when we checked in that they have a textile-free policy? That you would not need to buy a bathing suit? Their website said they have eight pools but there are only two here. Do you think they are counting the hot tubs as pools? There has got to be more to this place than meets the eye. (Ooooh!) Just then we looked up and saw table umbrellas at the top of a hill. Ah ha! We returned to the elevators, pushed the up button, and found (ta-dah!) more pools and less skin.
Lesson learned: Ask for a tour on your first visit to a spa!
Sorry, the camera was in the locker so there are no photos of our European Adventure in Wonderland. You’ll just have to take my word for it.
Thanks for sharing this nice and very informative post,I really liked it.....
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